1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to infection control systems used in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and in nursing homes, and more particularly to disposable trash bag systems for contaminated trash generated by patients lying in a hospital bed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Patients lying in a hospital bed generate personal trash such as gum, facial tissues, napkins, and paper towels that must be properly discarded to prevent the spread of infections.
While most patients know that the trash they generate may be contaminated and should be properly discarded, the personal trash they generate is sometimes left on the overbed table, on the bedding, or dropped on the floor because a trash receptacle was not within easy reach of the patient when lying in the bed. Eventually, the trash is picked up by a healthcare worker or by a family member and deposits it into floor trash receptacle. Unexpectedly, the worker or family member may be contaminated with germs and viruses from the patient.
Overbed tables are commonly used in a hospital to serve food or beverages to a patient lying in a bed. Overbed tables are also used as support surfaces for temporarily holding books, magazines, or for writing or for playing cards. They typically include a rectangular table top mounted at one end to a height adjustable vertical column. The table top is a single, planar structure with a uniform thickness and made of hard, laminated plastic that can be thoroughly sanitized with a suitable disinfectant manually applied by housekeeping personnel. The lower end of the vertical column is mounted on a low profile base with caster wheels that allows the base to easily roll across the floor and, if desired, extend under the bed. During use, the overbed table may be moved to different positions around the bed to accommodate different positions of a patient lying on a hospital bed, and to accommodate different pieces of medical equipment that may be setup around the bed.
What is needed is a disposable trash bag holder system that holds a disposable trash bag at different locations around a patient lying in different locations on a hospital bed. Such a system should enable the disposable trash bag to be selective moved to accommodate the different positions of the patient in the bed. What is also needed is a system that supports a trash bag in partially open configuration so that trash can be easily deposited into the bag without manually manipulating the bag. What is also needed is a system that satisfies the above needs that does not interfere with commonly used housekeeping tasks employed to reduce bacterial and viral infections in the facility.